Sikorski presented his
foreign policy plan in the Sejm on Thursday about the assumptions and tasks of Polish foreign policy for 2024. BZ wrote on Saturday that the head of the Foreign Ministry
“tried to achieve two goals at the same time” in his speech.
The first was to manifest Poland’s return to the European fold and the second was to “show the voters of the Law and Justice party and other right-wing parties that Poland is pursuing an independent policy, even if the current liberal government of Donald Tusk advocates deeper European integration.”
The German daily notes that Sikorski, during his speech, accused PiS of wanting to reduce the EU to a free trade zone during the worst crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. BZ quoted the foreign minister’s words: “In free trade zones, millions of euros are not made available for mutual aid, common weapons are not bought and common sanctions are not imposed.”
The daily also stresses that Sikorski reminded the Polish right that
Poland “joined the European Union after years of effort, as a result of the nation's decision, taken in a two-day referendum, with the blessing of the Polish Pope.”
Cooperation with ‘non-imperialist’ Russia
The newspaper placed emphasis on the minister’s statement regarding the war in Ukraine. According to the daily,
words were said that have not been heard in Polish politics for a long time: “Poland is ready to cooperate with a non-imperial Russia that respects the rights of other nations to self-determination.”
The authors of the commentary wrote that in recent years Polish politicians have repeatedly stressed that a “non-imperial Russia” is not even possible. According to BZ,
Sikorski’s statement about possible cooperation with a “non-imperial Russia” could be exploited by PiS. “Law and Justice will try to paint Sikorski as a ‘Russian agent’,” the daily assessed.
It recalled that the minister is very familiar with the Polish right and comes from that camp himself, as he was defense minister in the first PiS government from 2005 to 2007.
According to the BZ, the head of the Foreign Ministry
“by the standards of Western politics is ideologically conservative.” “That’s probably where the reference to John Paul II came from,” the report concluded.
